Combined printing and recording machine



May 11, 1937. R. G. FEAR I COMBINED PRINTING AND RECORDING MACHINE FiledDec. 10, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet l May 11, 1937. R. G. FEAR COMBINEDPRINTING AND RECORDING momma Filed Dec. 10, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR.

594 ua MK COMBINED PRINTING AND R. G FEAR RECORDING MACHINE Filed Dec.10, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 AMFUF'IEF? MICROPHONE SULINIJ MIXERELEJZTRIEAL'F'IEK U 4* 9 [IVER ALLVULUME CDNTRUL mums RECEIVERPHDNUCRAPH v "FILM SOUND HEAD REMU E ELEPHU E 95 INVENTUR Patented May11, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COMBINED PRINTING AND RECORDINGMACHINE 5Claims.

My invention relates to film printers and recorders generally and moreparticularly to a film printing machine combined with a sound on filmrecording machine.) I

An object of the invention is to combine a film printing mechanism witha sound-on-fllm recording mechanisms for simultaneous operation fromasingle prime mover, the mechanisms being of a construction andarrangement that a final como posite sound and picturepositive printwill be produced in but one printing operation, from a single negative.print.

Another object of the invention is to provide a single supportingstructure for the said mecha- 5 nisms and prime mover whereby thesameare brought into a compact and readily accessible assembly on thesupporting structure to facilitate maintenance and operation.

With these and other objects of equalimpor tance in view,-the inventionresides in the certain new and useful combination, construction and.arrangement of mechanisms and parts as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed, set forth in the appended claims, and illustrated in theaccom- 25 panying drawings in which:-

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing a practical embodiment of myinvention;

Figure 2 is an elevation of the driving mechanism per se; t

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through the printer head,showing the housed parts in elevation;

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken on the line acters of referencedenote corresponding parts wherever they occur throughout the severalviews. Referring to Figure 1; the numeral l indicates a'film roll whichis journaledupon shaft 2 and adapted to rotate thereon, being held inplace by rod 3 which is "arranged upon supporting shaft 4 so that it maybe swung to one side for the purpose of placing film upon the shaft 2. Aback plate 5 is mounted upon a bracket 6 which also carries a secondfilm roll 1 journaled upon the shaft 3 and'adapted to rotate thereon.Retaining rod 9 mounted upon supporting rod Ill holds the film on theshaft 8, the back plate II preventing the film from working out ofposition as it an rotates.

The supporting T I2 is affixed to a vertical rod 13 which is rigidlysecured to the printer housing l4. The printer housing 14 has alightproof lamp housing l5 cast integrally therewith. A lever I6 is adaptedto be rotated so as to change an exposure aperture with the printer. Theprinter supporting pedestal i'l supports a motor l8 mounted upon abracket I9 attached to the pedestal at2ll. A second bracket 2i castintegrally with the pedestal supports the sound recorder 22 which has adoor 23 having locking means Hi5 adapted to close and exclude light fromthe interior of the recorder. 24 is supported by the bracket 25 which issecured to the bottom of the recorder case 22. A swinging rod 26 mountedand supported by a bracket A film take up roller 21 prevents the filmfrom falling off of take up spindle 28 which is adapted to be driven bya belt il8'or anyother conventional means.

Another bracket 29 is attached to the pedestal at 30 and held thereon byscrews 3| and 32. A film take up reel 33 is mounted upon rotatable shaft34 and held in place by a swinging arm 35 which is supported by red 36mounted upon said bracket 29.

The film roll 1 is a developed picture negative placed and rolled sothat the emulsion side thereof is away from the light as it unrolls.This film indicated by the numeral 31 is adapted to contact theunexposed positive film 38 which is pulled down from the film roll I bythe printer mechanism. Film 33 has its emulsion side facing film 31 sothat an emulsion to emulsion contact is made by the two films as theypass thru the printer mechanism, the two films, 31 and 38 pass betweenthe guide rollers 66 and 61 and under contact shoe 39 onto printingsprocket 68 which is mounted upon and driven by shaft 69 at which timethey are exposed to a printing light and separate at 40 as they emergefrom under the shoe 39 as will be clearly understood by referring toFigures 1 and 3.

The negative film 31 passes between guide rollers 4| and 42 and is takenup by the spindle 33 upon the shaft 34 forming r011 43. The spindle 33is adapted to-be driven by a belt H9 or any other conventional means.

The positive film 38 is led into the recorder 22, after passing betweenguide rollers 4| and 42 and between rollers 44 and 45 secured to therecorder housing, and then onto the large heavy sprocket 46 mounted onshaft I06 where it is held by the film engaging rollers 41 and 48 whichare pivotally connected to the rocking or eccentric frame I01 having afinger piece I48 for operating the frame to disengage the rollers 41 and48 from the sprocket wheel 46 to readily thread the film 38.

The film 3B is exposed at 49 to a varying light source, such as a lightvalve 50 which has an optical shutter 5! for focusing light that passesthru shutter 52 which may be actuated by electrical impulses furnishedby any conventional sound conversion system. The lamp 53 may burn at afixed intensity and the optical system 54 may be arranged to focus suchlight upon the shutter 52. The shutter 52 opening and closing inaccordance mm the electrical currents that are used to actuate it.

The positive film 38 having passed recording point 49 follows thesprocket 46 and passes under the sprocket film engaging rollers 55 and56 which are pivotally connected to the rocking or eccentric frame I09having a finger piece ill! for operating the frame to disengage therollers 55 and 56 from the sprocket wheel 46 to readily thread the film38, and then away from sprocket 46 onto sprocket 57 which is mountedupon rotatable shaft 58. A loop 59 is formed by the sprocket filmengaging rollers 60 and 5! which are pivotally connected to the rockingor eccentric frame ill having a finger piece H2 for operating the frameto disengage the rollers 60 and GI from the sprocket wheel 51 to readilythread the film. After passing under roller 6| the film passes betweenfilm guide rollers 62 and 63 secured to the bottom portion of therecorder housing, and is taken up by the revolving take up spindle 28forming roll 54.

A loop 65 is formed between rollers 42, 44 and 45 to prevent theprinting sprocket from affecting the film entering the recorder.

An arm Iii is adapted to be pivotally supported upon the central hub llof the sprocket 68. The arm has an arcual flange 12 formed at itsperiphery and carries hardened steel film guiding sho'e 73 mountedthereon as clearly shown in Figures 3 and 6.

A film exposure aperture forming shoe T4 is rigidly fastened to theprinter case and arranged to fit snugly between the flanges l5 and 16 ofthe printer sprocket 68 to prevent light from escaping from the printercase. The arm 10 may be moved radially to open or close an aperture 15Abetween the fixed shoe 14 and the movable shoe I3 by a link 16Aconnected to lever 11 pivoted at 18 and having a latching handle 19arranged to engage convenient holes in a quadrant 8| mounted on theprinter housing i4.

The contact shoe 39 having grooves 82 and 83, shown in Figure 6, so asto prevent the teeth of sprocket wheel 68 from interfering with the contact shoe and to allow the shoe to press the film into a sliding contactwith the film guiding shoes 13 and 14.

The annular space 84 between the flanges 15 and 16 of the sprocket 68 isarranged so that one side of the sprocket fiange has an inwardlyextending flange 85 that is the proper width of a sound track andprevents the printing light from fogging the sensitive film where thesound is to be recorded.

An incandescent lamp i i 5 which may be inserted thru the door opening IIS in the printer housing I4 and closed by the swinging door H1furnishes light to expose the positive film passing thru the printer.

The light valve 50 may be actuated by an amplifier 89 as shown in Figure5, which may amplify varying electrical currents that may be furnishedby an electrical pick up 90 of a phonograph Si, or by a film sound head92 or by a remote telephone 93 or by a microphone 94, or by electricalcurrent picked up by a radio and converted into electrical currents ofaudio frequency as indicated by 95 shown also in Figure 5.

The motor I! drives shaft 96 thru a fiexible coupling 81. A helical gear98 drives gear 99 which is rigidly mounted upon vertical shaft I00 andwhich has a worm llll mounted thereon. Worm Illl drives the printersprocket 68 by means of worm gear Hi2 which is keyed to shaft 69journaled in bearing H13 in printer housing I 4 of the printer.

Many other modifications and changes in details will readily occur tothose skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope ofmy invention as defined in the claims, and I therefore desire to havethe foregoing description and drawings used in connection therewithregarded in the illustrative sense rather than in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:-

1. In a machine of the class described, a vertical support, a filmprinting mechanism at the upper end of said support, a sound-on-filmrecording mechanism carried by and at one side of said support belowsaid film printing mechanism, a second support rising from the upper endof the first named support, film rolls carried by said second support, aprime mover carried by and at the opposite side of said support, a driveshaft journaled in said support and connecting the said prime moverdirectly to the film feed mechanism of the said sound recordingmechanism, and a second shaft geared to said second named shaft at oneside of said support to transmit power from the prime mover to the filmfeed mechanism of the said printing mechanism.

2. A film picture printing machine, comprising a light-proof housinghaving a light exposure aperture, a film contact shoe overlying the saidaperture, a driven shaft within said housing, a film feed sprocket onsaid shaft, a movable film guiding shoe, an arm mounted for angularmovements on said driven shaft and carrying said film guiding shoe atits free end, a lever pivoted within said housing and projectingexteriorly thereof, a link connecting said lever with said film guidingshoe, and a latch carried by said lever and selectively cooperative witha series of keepers mounted on the wall of the housing.

3. The machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein a flexible coupling isinterposed between the said prime mover and the said drive connectionsther of for the said film feed mechanism of the printing and soundrecording mechanisms.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, a sound-on-film machinecomprising a casing, a light source exteriorly of said casing, a lightvalve including an optical system mounted in one wall of said casing inline with said light source, a control shutter for said light valve, asprocket within said casing for feeding a positive film past theexposure point of said light valve, a second sprocket within said casingfor drawing the said film from the first named sprocket, guide meanscooperative with said sprockets and cooperative with said film tomaintain a loop therein between the sprockets, a takeup for said filmexteriorly of said casing, and means for operating said sprockets andtake-up.

5. The machine as set forth in claim 4, wherein the said shutter isoperated by and correspondingly with electrical impulses from anamplifying unit of a usual sound conversion system.

RALPH GORDON FEAR.

